Rare & Scratchy Rock 'N Roll

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"Rare & Scratchy Rock 'N Roll" is a rockumentary podcast series that tells the greatest rock and roll stories on record. This includes the untold tales of some great hits that time forgot, but maybe you'll still remember. These programs are hosted by Radio Dave, a veteran disc jockey and published authority on rock and pop music history. He draws his "Rare & Scratchy Rock 'N Roll" stories from his "groove yard," an archive that has more music than most record libraries.

"Rare & Scratchy Rock 'N Roll" is a rockumentary podcast series that tells the greatest rock and roll stories on record. This includes the untold tales of some great hits that time forgot, but maybe you'll still remember. These programs are hosted by Radio Dave, a veteran disc jockey and published authority on rock and pop music history. He draws his "Rare & Scratchy Rock 'N Roll" stories from his "groove yard," an archive that has more music than most record libraries.

"Rare & Scratchy Rock 'N Roll" is a rockumentary podcast series that tells the greatest rock and roll stories on record. This includes the untold tales of some great hits that time forgot, but maybe you'll still remember. These programs are hosted by Radio Dave, a veteran disc jockey and published authority on rock and pop music history. He draws his "Rare & Scratchy Rock 'N Roll" stories from his "groove yard," an archive that has more music than most record libraries.

Episodes

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL_095 – "THE FIRST FIVE YEARS OF MOTOWN RECORDS – 64 HIT SINGLES" –
The Motown Sound helped define the music of a generation during the company’s heyday in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Motown family of labels has been celebrated in television specials, stage musicals, and Hollywood movies.
You may recall that “Rare & Scratchy Rock ‘N Roll” episodes #4 and #5 presented a two-part alternative history of Motown Records – with little known stories about one of the...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL_094 – "THE LOST TOP 40 HITS OF 1972" –
This episode spotlights 40 lost hits from the year 1972. These include top 40 tunes radio stations no longer play – by major artists such as Carole King, Three Dog Night, Ringo Starr, Neil Diamond, The 5 Dimension, Wayne Newton, Curtis Mayfield, and The Bee Gees, among others.
We’ll present the only active-duty armed forces military band to march its way onto the top 40 rock charts, and sample the biggest hit single based...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL – WOODSTOCK MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL – 50TH ANNIVERSARY ROCKUMENTARY
This episode salutes the 50 Anniversary of the largest and most famous rock and roll concert ever – Woodstock – August 15 through August 18, 1969.
We’ll sample one song each from the acts who performed there. These include an artist who was six months pregnant when she sang her set. And the superstar who smashed his guitar on the back of a political activist who tried to disrupt his group’s gig....

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL #_092 – THE COMPLETE HIT SINGLES HISTORY OF ROCK NELSON – PART 2
This is the second of two episodes saluting one of the most famous names in rock and roll history – Rick Nelson.
Our first episode tracked his trajectory from child actor to rock star. Now we’ll spotlight the second half of his career, as he gradually evolved from being a fading teen idol to reinventing himself as a county-rock pioneer and an accomplished composer. This includes the true-life...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL #_091 – THE COMPLETE HIT SINGLES HISTORY OF RICK NELSON – PART 1
This is the first of two episodes saluting one of the most famous names in rock and roll history. His early recordings were a mixture of rock and roll, rockabilly, and gentle ballad styles. In later years, he was a pioneer in the genre of country rock. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, his success rivaled contemporary stars such as Elvis Presley, Pat Boone, and Fats Domino.
He’s Ricky...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL #_090 – 20TH CENTURY HIT SINGLES ABOUT MOTORCYCLES
Rev up your sound system, because we’re popping the clutch on hit singles with a biker theme during the 20 century. We’ll also road test some terrific two-wheel tunes that didn’t chart, along with selected hit album cuts about motorcycles that got great mileage on radio station playlists.
Along the way, we’ll hear from the only motorcycle gang to appear on a hit 45, plus the only motorcycle song to be #1 hit...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL #_089 – "THE COMPLETE HIT SINGLES HISTORY OF ROY ORBISON – PART 2"
This is the second of two episodes saluting one of the most unique and enduring talents in rock and roll history – Roy Orbison. He recorded hits in four decades – the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. And his posthumous platters also charted in the 1990s and remain big sellers to this very day.
During our Roy Orbison retrospective, we’ll sample all of his hit singles, plus the original versions by...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL #_088 – THE COMPLETE HIT SINGLES CAREER OF ROY ORBISON
This is the first of two episodes saluting one of the most unique and enduring talents in rock and roll history. He recorded hits in four decades – the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. And his posthumous platters also charted in the 1990s. He’s best known for his soaring voice, but it’s not well known that he composed or co-composed most of his own hit songs. He’s Roy Orbison.
During our Roy Orbison retrospective,...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL_087
– "THE LOST TOP 40 HITS OF 1980" –
This episode spotlights 40 lost hits from 1980. These include top 40 tunes radio stations no longer play – by major artists such as Elton John, Donna Summer, Carly Simon, Bob Seger, The Jacksons, Pete Townshend, Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, and Dan Fogelberg, among many others.
We’ll relate the story of a song that was a top 20 hit twice – the first time when it debuted in 1980 and nine years later in 1989 when it was...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL _086 – "JAILHOUSE ROCKERS (SINGERS WITH HIT RECORDS & POLICE RECORDS)"
This episode spotlights Jailhouse Rockers. These are performers with police records as well as hit records. Many served jail sentences. Others only received probation. A few got off with just a fine. And one died while his penitentiary term was still pending an appeal.
The collective criminal charges against them ranged from drug possession and trafficking to drunk driving, public...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL _085 – THE COMPLETE HIT SINGLES HISTORY OF PAUL ANKA - PART 2
This is the second of two episodes saluting one of the most successful and enduring singer/songwriters in rock and pop music history. His recordings span more than seven decades. He’s also composed hit records for several other artists, including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, and the 5th Dimension. He’s Paul Anka.
During the course of our Paul Anka retrospective, we’ll sample all of his...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL #_084 – PART 1 OF A 2-PART ROCKUMENTARY ON THE COMPLETE HIT SINGLES HISTORY OF PAUL ANKA
This is the first of two episodes saluting one of the most successful and enduring singer/songwriters in rock and pop music history. His recordings span more than seven decades. He’s also composed hit records for several other artists, as well as one of the most famous television show themes of all time. He’s Paul Anka.
During the course of our Paul Anka retrospective,...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL #083 PRESENTS "30 FEMINIST HIT SINGLES BEFORE THEIR TIME"
Feminine pride and empowerment are common themes in the rock, pop, and rhythm & blues hits of the 20th century – especially in recent years. But there were fewer such hit records in earlier eras. This episode remembers 30 songs with feminist messages that were played on the radio long before their time – the decades of the 1950s through the 1990s.
Ironically, almost all of these tunes were composed or...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL EPISODE #_082 – 50 LOST TOP 40 BRITISH INVASION ACTS
Say the words, “British Invasion,” and everyone recalls the Beatles, the Dave Clark 5, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Herman’s Hermits, the Hollies, Tom Jones, Petula Clark, the Animals, Donovan, Gerry & The Pacemakers, the Yardbirds, and the Bee Gees, for example. Their songs are still played on U.S. radio stations.
But forgotten by many is an earlier British invasion. It coincided with the launch of the...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL _081 – THE COMPLETE HIT SINGLES HISTORY OF LITTLE RICHARD
This episode pays tribute to one of rock and roll’s most flamboyant pioneers and pop icons. Although he’s best known for his many 1950s hits, he continued to make the rock and rhythm & blues charts for another four decades.
Throughout his career, he was conflicted by his devout Christian faith and his love for secular music. And for a while, he retired from show business to become a minister....

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL #_080 – THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED – THE LAST CONCERT BY BUDDY HOLLY, J.P. "THE BIG BOPPER" RICHARDSON & RITCHIE VALENS
This episode pays tribute to Buddy Holly, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson & Ritchie Valens whose tragic deaths in a plane crash occurred on February 3, 1959. It’s been called the day the music died.
We believe the best way to honor them is to reconstruct, as much as we can, the set-list they and the other artists – Frankie Sardo, as well as Dion...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL #_079
– THE TOP 40 LOST HITS OF 1976 –
This episode spotlights 40 lost hits from 1976. These include top 40 tunes radio stations no longer play – by major artists such as Stevie Wonder, the Electric Light Orchestra, Elton John, and the Beach Boys, among others.
We’ll salute a legendary disco star who was also an acclaimed painter. And we’ll reveal another disco diva, who left nothing to the imagination in her other profession as a pornographic pictures star....

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL _078 – “58 Radio DJs With Hit Singles”
This episode spotlights 58 rock, pop, rhythm and blues, soul, jazz, and country radio disc jockeys who not only played the hits, but also made their own.
We’ll salute some of the stations those DJs were on, with a few soundbites of their shows and jingles from some of their stations – all thanks to our resident Rocklogist, Ken Deutsch. His radio jingle archive is one of the largest in the world.
We’ll remember two DJ’s...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL - _077 - THE COMPLETE HIT SINGLES HISTORY OF ELVIS PRESLEY AT THE MOVIES
This episode spotlights the movie career of Elvis Presley. The King Of Rock & Roll also was the king of rock stars on the silver screen. He acted in 31 features and starred in two concert films between 1956 and 1972 – for a total of 33 movies – more than any rock star in history.
They generated 38 Billboard Magazine-ranked hit singles. We’ll sample them all.
These tunes include some songs...

RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL_076 – A SATIRE ON EARLY 1960s TOP 40 RADIO WITH "WONDERFUL W-O-R-M - AM
In the early 1960s top-40 radio was wild and woolly, and no DJs were wilder and woolier than Johnny Lizard and Al Fresco, two top jocks on the imaginary station, W-O-R-M, otherwise known as “Wonderful WORM.”
In what is actually a continuation of Rare & Scratchy Rock ‘N Roll shows 10 and 15, we’ll reintroduce you to Mr. Lizard and crew and let you hear what top-40 might have sounded like in...